Myomorpha

Birch mouse Sicista betulina, photographed by Ivo Dinsbergs.

Belongs within: Rodentia.
Contains: Dipodidae, Arvicolidae, Spalacidae, Nesomyidae, Cricetidae, Muridae.

The Myomorpha are a universally recognised rodent clade uniting the Dipodoidea (jerboas and allies) with the Muroidea (true rats and mice) (some authors use the name 'Myomorpha' for a larger clade also including the Geomyoidea, pocket gophers, in which case the smaller clade is called Myodonta). Myomorphs are distinguished by a unique muscular structure, with the medial and lateral masseter muscles moved forward relative to other rodents, as well as sharing a distinct cephalic arterial pattern (Jaeger 1988).

Within the myomorphs, the Dipodoidea are distinguished by the presence of an independent lower vascular groove on the infraorbital foramen. They are often divided between the Dipodidae (jerboas) and Zapodidae (jumping mice and birch mice); however, as the Zapodidae are generally distinguished by the absence of apomorphic features of the Dipodidae (such as fused foot bones and vertebrae), their monophyly is questionable. The Muroidea are distinguished by the presence of a distinct anterocone on the first molar, the absence of the fourth lower premolar, and a confluence of the masseteric and neurovascular foramina on the anterior zygoma (Jaeger 1988). Classification of the muroids has varied between authors (some have even placed all muroids in a single family, the Muridae), but the basalmost-diverging living muroids may be the Oriental dormice of the Platacanthomyidae. Also nested within the Muroidea are the Rhizomyoidea (bamboo rats and mole rats), burrowing rodents found in Africa and Eurasia (not to be confused with the mole rats of the Bathyergidae).

<==Myomorpha [Myodonta]
    |  i. s.: Simimys simplex B74, N85
    |         Pappocricetodon MJ11
    |--+--Plesiosminthus B74
    |  `--Dipodoidea J88
    |       |--Dipodidae MJ11
    |       `--Zapodidae B74
    |            |--Zapus [Zapodinae] B74
    |            |    |--*Z. hudsonius (Zimmermann 1780) [=Dipus hudsonius] H48
    |            |    |    |--Z. h. hudsonius B75
    |            |    |    |--Z. h. intermedius Krutzsch 1954 B75
    |            |    |    `--Z. h. pallidus B75
    |            |    |--Z. burti Hibbard 1941 MH03
    |            |    |--Z. princeps IT07
    |            |    |--Z. sandersi Hibbard 1956 MH03
    |            |    `--Z. trinotatus IT07
    |            `--Sicista [Sicistinae, Sminthidae] B74
    |                 |--S. armenica IT07
    |                 |--S. betulina B74
    |                 |--S. caucasica IT07
    |                 |--S. caudata IT07
    |                 |--S. concolor IT07
    |                 |--S. kazbegica IT07
    |                 |--S. kluchorica IT07
    |                 |--S. napaea IT07
    |                 |--S. pseudonapaea IT07
    |                 |--S. severtzovi IT07
    |                 |--S. strandi IT07
    |                 |--S. subtilis IT07
    |                 `--S. tianshanica IT07
    `--Muroidea MJ11
         |  i. s.: Eumys Cope 1873 J88, C77
         |           |--E. elegans C77
         |           `--E. loxodon (Cope 1874) [=Hesperomys loxodon] C77
         |         Arvicolidae B74
         |--Platycanthomyidae MJ11
         |    |--Platacanthomys lasiurus IT07
         |    `--Typhlomys MJ11
         |         |--T. chapensis IT07
         |         `--T. cinereus IT07
         `--+--Rhizomyoidea B74
            |    |--Rhizospalax B74
            |    |--Spalacidae MJ11
            |    `--Rhizomyidae B74
            |         |--Cannomys badius B74
            |         |    |--C. b. badius B74
            |         |    `--C. b. minor B74
            |         `--Rhizomys B74
            |              |--R. pruinosus B74
            |              |--R. sinensis IT07
            |              `--R. sumatrensis IT07
            `--+--Calomyscus Thomas 1905 P04 [Calomyscidae MJ11]
               |    |--C. bailwardi IT07
               |    |--C. baluchi IT07
               |    |--C. hotsoni IT07
               |    |--C. mystax IT07
               |    |--C. tsolovi IT07
               |    `--C. urartensis IT07
               |--Cricetodon [Cricetodontidae] B74
               |    |--C. ibericus L78
               |    `--C. rhodanicum MHL03
               `--+--Nesomyidae MJ11
                  `--+--Cricetidae MJ11
                     `--+--Muridae MJ11
                        `--Cricetomys IT07 [Cricetomyidae J88]
                             |--C. emini IT07
                             `--C. gambianus IT07

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[B75] Bowles, J. B. 1975. Distribution and biogeography of mammals of Iowa. Special Publications, The Museum, Texas Tech University 9: 1-184.

[B74] Bugge, J. 1974. The cephalic arterial system in insectivores, primates, rodents and lagomorphs, with special reference to the systematic classification. Acta Anatomica 87 (Suppl 62): 1-160.

[C77] Cope, E. D. 1877. Report upon the extinct Vertebrata obtained in New Mexico by parties of the expedition of 1874. Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian 4 (2): i-iv, 1-370.

[H48] Hershkovitz, P. 1948. The technical name of the Virginia deer with a list of the South American forms. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 61: 41-45.

[IT07] Isaac, N. J. B., S. T. Turvey, B. Collen, C. Waterman & J. E. M. Baillie. 2007. Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny. PloS One 2 (3): e296.

[J88] Jaeger, J.-J. 1988. Rodent phylogeny: new data and old problems. In The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods, vol. 2. Mammals (M. J. Benton, ed.) pp. 177-199. Clarendon Press: Oxford.

[L78] Lavocat, L. 1978. Rodentia and Lagomorpha. In Evolution of African Mammals (V. J. Maglio & H. B. S. Cooke, eds) pp. 69-89. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).

[MH03] Martin, R. A., R. T. Hurt, J. G. Honey & P. Peláez-Campomanes. 2003. Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene rodents fom the northern Borchers Badlands (Meade County, Kansas), with comments on the Blancan-Irvingtonian boundary in the Meade Basin. Journal of Paleontology 77 (5): 985-1001.

[MHL03] Meng, J., Y. Hu & C. Li. 2003. The osteology of Rhombomylus (Mammalia, Glires): Implications for phylogeny and evolution of Glires. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 275: 1-247.

[MJ11] Meredith, R. W., J. E. Janečka, J. Gatesy, O. A. Ryder, C. A. Fisher, E. C. Teeling, A. Goodbla, E. Eizirik, T. L. L. Simão, T. Stadler, D. L. Rabosky, R. L. Honeycutt, J. J. Flynn, C. M. Ingram, C. Steiner, T. L. Williams, T. J. Robinson, A. Burk-Herrick, M. Westerman, N. A. Ayoub, M. S. Springer & W. J. Murphy. 2011. Impacts of the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution and KPg extinction on mammal diversification. Science 334: 521-524.

[N85] Novacek, M. J. 1985. The Sespedectinae, a new subfamily of hedgehog-like insectivores. American Museum Novitates 2822: 1-24.

[P04] Popov, V. V. 2004. Pliocene small mammals (Mammalia, Lipotyphla, Chiroptera, Lagomorpha, Rodentia) from Muselievo (north Bulgaria). Geodiversitas 26 (3): 403-491.